Mamba Review

I took receipt of the cables over a week ago. the very first impression was one of an extremely well packaged and put together item. the box was very heavy, 'silk' lined, with a see thru plastic cover over the leads.

Constrution of the complete leads appears to be of professional standard. Nylon sheaved throughout. Substantial heatshrink in all the right places etc. The lead has a 20mm diameter. The fact that someone has gone to great lengths to make these look the part is irrefutable. To some this will raise the question 'why?'. Fair point.

If the actual price were not readily available, it would have been my audiofan assumption that they were easily £250+

They are supplied with 8 of each 'gold plated' spades and bananas. i found that the cable was so substantial that if your terminal posts are recessed, as they are with the wd25t, then you may have to manhandle the leads to get a pleasing fit when using spades. I use my speakers close to a wall, so close in fact that when using bananas, you probably need 3in or so clearance. maybe not a problem but a consideration nonetheless. I used bananas throughout and can say that they are all a very satisfying and secure fit.

Unless you use named brand connectors in your speaker cables i would suggest that the connections supplied here would set you back about half the cost of the cables alone. I ran them in for a week then carried out my A/B test againts my chord oddyssey 2. The findings were very favourable and not a little surprising. truth be told, it was a kick in the pants. i guess i've become a bit of a hifi snob and simply can't accept (on spec) that big name specialist products can be bettered by 'no name' brands. I got my wife to help me with the test, a woman who has had it up to here with upgrades etc. She is immune to hifi bullsh*t. To her it was, to use a magazine favourite, night and day.

I don't profess to know how these things work but, with the mamba, we both agreed that bass definition was better, causing the vocals to come to the fore and generally making tracks even more listenable.

I never had a problem with my chords - at least i thought i didn't. I also found that the mambas allowed me to play MUSE on my stereo and actually enjoy it. I've always had a problem with their stuff as the rythm section is pretty full on and in no time at all it gets a bit muddy. Well, we turned it up to lampshade rattling levels and it was a right laugh! It powered along with great purpose.

The fact that these cables are better in my system than my £17mtr chords proves to me that cable(s) per se do make a difference and, in this case at least,a positive and inexpensive one. There are no doubt better cables out there (at a price). Has this test simply proved that my original cables were crap? It's an argument, but one that a fool like me could persue ad infinitum. Well I've been lucky this time and this pair will be staying in my system.

I can honestly say that in my valve based system they look better and sound better than chord oddyssey 2

Had i home demo'ed these i would have happily paid over and above their rrp. and as such I think they are a bargain.